“I think I was a very sensitive plant as a child – I think most artists probably are. I think our personality is the result of how our nature is acted upon by nurture – it’s a mixture of the two things. I was a very sensitive child and so certain qualities that would be traditionally seen as feminine – like vulnerability, sensitivity, preciousness – they were things that I felt I couldn’t have appreciated in my family.
I was very wary and felt I had to be tough I suppose because the boys’ role in the family is much more heavily policed than the girls’ role. Girls nowadays – and rightly so – can be tomboys, they can be achievers, they can be career girls and that’s fantastic.
But boys, a lot of parents would freak-out if they thought they had a “sissy” on their hands. It’s still quite a taboo area, I think.
Yes, there are some people who accept that – I’m generalising. As a child I put those feminine qualities in a box and put them away for later.”